The narrator’s first period
When the narrator experiences her first period, she runs to her mother in terror because she thinks it is a medical emergency. However, she is dumbfounded by her mother’s reaction, which is the opposite of what she expected: “I didn’t understand it at all. I thought I must have been struck down by a terrible illness. I went to ask my mother about it in fear and trembling and saw laughter and happiness written all over her face. I wondered in amazement how she could greet this affliction with such a broad smile.”
The mother’s behavior
Growing up within a vast set of restrictions,the narrator thinks that her mother’s behavior is ironic. After all, she says she loves her daughter, yet does not seem to allow her to be happy: “If she really loved me and wanted my happiness above her own, then why did her demands and desires always work against my happiness? How could she possibly love me when she put chains on my arms and legs and round my neck every day?”
Reversed roles
When the doctor treats a sick man, she is suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of emptiness. The sick man seems to sense her distress and tries to help her, which effectively reverses the relationship between the doctor and the patient: “It was as if he was the one who felt compassion for me, wanted to take me by the hand and give me of what he had; as if he was the one who possessed knowledge and strength while I possessed nothing. A physical illness seemed to dwindle to nothing when compared with a spiritual illness. I felt that he was the doctor and I the patient.”
The words and actions of men
According to the narrator, the behavior of men is ironic because their words and actions do not match: “The male’s jealousy over his female: he claims to be frightened for her when he’s really frightened for himself, claims to be protecting her in order to take possession of her and put four walls around her.”
The conversation with the musician
The narrator meets the musician at a party, where both spend the time on the sidelines. They have a deep conversation about the discrepancy between self-actualization and pleasing others, where the musician reveals that he does not like his latest composition even though the public loves it. The doctor tries to encourage the musician to put his interest above the interest of the public. Ironically, the doctor does not realize that she is facing the same dilemma and just presented a solution for her own problem.
